Hair comb assembly



July 30, 1968 ANDERSEN 3,394,716

HAIR COMB ASSEMBLY Filed April 23, 1965 United States Patent 3,394,716HAIR COMB ASSEMBLY Margaret J. Andersen, 826 S. Wabash, Chicago, Ill.60605 Filed Apr. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 450,400 4 Claims. (Cl. 132-125)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Electrically conductive bars are mountedalong the teeth of a hair comb with dielectric material positionedbetween the electrically conductive bars and the teeth of the comb forthe purpose of generating electrostatic charges.

This invention relates to an improved construction for a hair combassembly and particularly to an assembly in which an electrostaticcharge is generated when used in combing hair.

Many women find that in trying to arrange and to style fashionably theirhair, they encounter various problems for a number of causes. One causeis the natural state of the hair. Another is self-created changes in thehair, and still another is environment conditions affecting the hair.

Some of the abnormal conditions which may exist in hair in its naturalstate are that, it may be too line or too coarse, too dry or too oily,too porous or too impervious, or too curly or too straight. Theseconditions usually do not exist alone, but two or more conditions existin combination with each other,

Many women change the natural state of their hair by one or moremethods, such as, tinting, dyeing, or bleaching, or applying permanentwave solutions. One of the latest styles is the boulfant style whichrequires a certain amount of ratting to produce a puffed affect. Theseself-created changes provide adverse affects on the hair in that thechanges cause the hair to become dry, porous, brittle or reduce thenatural oils in the hair. The ratting of hair for bouffant hair fashionscauses the hair to break and to split. All of these conditions of thehair considerably lessen the body of the hair making it harder to styleand to arrange fashionably and to keep hair in place Without excessiveuse of oils, creams and hair sprays.

It is apparent that if the hair lacks body, any measures taken to styleand to arrange the hair will be less effective. It is therefore aprincipal object of this invention to provide a hair comb assembly inwhich combing of the hair with the assembly creates an electrostaticcharge which causes the hair to stay in place longer, to hold a desiredset and to add body to a boutfant hair style with less ratting and hairspray.

Environmental conditions affect the hair in that the hair gets dirtyfrom atmospheric dust which settles on the hair. In addition, dirt isoften transferred to the hair from hands and clothing under certainconditions especially in certain types of work. Application of haircream or hair spray tends to hold dirt and dust in the hair which maynormally fall off or be blown away. Also, many women are plagued withdandruff and dry scalp conditions, and these women have flakes or scalesin the hair which are symptomatic of the condition. The scales or flakesin the hair detract from the appearance of the hair so that women withthese conditions wash their hair more often to maintain its appearance.Therefore, it is another object of the instant invention to provide ahair comb assembly in which an electrostatic charge is built up in thecomb assembly during combing and the comb assembly collects foreignparticles from the hair, such as, dirt, dust, excess hair spray,dandruff scales and other foreign particles, thus cleaning the hair.

3,394,716 Patented July 30, 1968 It is a further object of thisinvention to provide a simple and economical construction for a combassembly which may be used to comb hair and generate electrostaticcharges.

Other objects and uses of the herein disclosed inven tion will becomereadily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a perusal of thefollowing specification in light of the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a comb assembly embodying the hereindisclosed invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view taken on line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view of a portion of the comb assemblyshown in FIGURE 1 taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of the comb assembly shown in FIGURE 1showing the relationship of the various parts.

Referring now to the drawing, it may be seen that a comb assemblygenerally indicated by numeral 10 and embodying the herein disclosedinvention generally consists of a base 12, a pair of identicaldielectric blocks 14 and 16, a pair of identical electrical conductivemetal bars 18 and 20, and a dielectric comb .22.

The base 12, in this instance, is a molded part made of phenolformaldehyde resin which is an electrical insulating material. The baseincludes a receptacle portion 24 which has a comb receiving aperture 26.Formed integral with the receptacle portion is a pair of wings 28 and 30which are parallel to each other and to the axis of the base. A handle32 is formed integral with the receptacle portion and provides aconvenient means for holding the comb assembly.

The comb 22, in this instance, is made of molded hard rubber. The combincludes a back 34 and a plurality of teeth 36 formed integral with theback and perpendicular thereto. Each of the teeth, it may be seen inFEGURE 2, has a waist portion 38 adjacent to its outermost edge so thatthere is somewhat enlarged portion 40 at the outer end of each of theteeth. This particular construction of the teeth is helpful in retainingan electrostatic charge on the teeth of the comb.

The blocks 14 and 16 are identical in construction, and in thisinstance, the blocks are made of methyl methacrylate resin. The blocks14 and 16 have bodies 42 and 44, respectively. The bodies 42 and 44 haveembrasurelike surfaces 46 and 48 respectively formed therein to definehair engaging edges 50 and 52 respectively. The block bodies 42 and 44with back 34 of the comb are positioned in the comb aperture 26 of thereceptacle portion of the base as may be seen in FIGURE 2. The blocksand the comb are held in the receptacle portion by a suitable adhesivewhich, in this instance, is an epoxy resin.

The metal bars 18 and 20 are elongated, and each has a generallyU-shaped cross section. The bars 18 and 20 are mounted on wings 28 and30, respectively, and they are held onto their respective wing by asuitable adhesive which in this instance is also an epoxy resin. Itshould be noted that the bars are on opposite sides of comb 22, and theyare substantially transverse to the teeth of the comb. The blocks 14 and16 with their hair engaging edges 50 and 52 respectively, are positionedbetween the adjacent bars and the comb with the embrasure-like surfaceis adjacent to the comb so that the edges are spaced from the comb.

When the instant comb assembly is placed into use, the operator of theassembly holds the assembly by the handle 32, and the teeth of the combare placed in the hair and moved relative to the hair so that the hairengages with block 14 or block 16 and the metal bar which is adjacent tothat particular block. The movement of the comb and the block and themetal bar relative to the hair causes an electrostatic charge to begenerated in the hair as well as on the comb and the block. It should benoted that the embrasure-like surface of the block defines a gap betweenthe comb and the block which aids niaterially in the generation of theelectrostatic charge. The particular construction of the teeth of thecomb aids in retaining the electrostatic charge on the teeth rather thanallowing a charge to run off the end of the teeth to be discharged. Thischarge which is created by the bar and the gapping between the hairengaging edge and the teeth causes foreign particles to be collected onthe block and the teeth of the comb. It should be noted that the blocksextend over a portion of the lengths of the teeth of the comb so thatforeign particles are held between the teeth and the block and not onthe back of the comb where foreign particles are not easily removed. Theinstant comb assembly may be readily cleaned by simply washing in water,and there is no build up of foreign particles at the back of the combwhere it is difficult to remove the particles.

It is found that the use of the present device in the hair not onlyremoves foreign particles from the hair but it also improves the body ofthe hair so that in some instances ratting is not necessary to give animproved appearance.

Although it has been found that an optimum construction is one in whichthe comb is made of hard rubber and the block made of methylmethacrylate resin, the instant device operates well when the comb ismade of methyl methacrylate resin and the block is made of hard rubber.It has also been found that the present device is also operative whenthe block are made of a material selected from a group of materialsconsisting of, polyethylene, vinyl acetate copolymer and vinyl chloridecopolymer.

It is apparent that the construction of the subject comb assembly isvery simple and the parts may be inexpensively manufactured by moldingand the metal parts may be stamped out of metal such as aluminum or anyother suitable electrically conductive material.

Although a specific construction of the instant invention has been shownand described in detail above, it is submitted that those skilled in theart may make various modifications and changes in the construction shownherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. It is to be expressly understood that the present inventionis limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A comb assembly comprising, in combination, a base composed ofelectric insulator material having a receptacle portion, a comb fixed inthe receptacle portion of the base, said comb having a plurality ofteeth, a pair of elongated electrically conductive bars being mutuallyelectrically insulated mounted on said base on opposite sides of thecomb and being positioned substantially transverse to the teeth of saidcomb, and a non absorbent dielectric block positioned between each ofsaid bars and the comb, each of said blocks having an elongated edgesubstantially parallel to the bar spaced from the comb and itsrespective bar to provide a hair engaging edge for the block forgenerating electrostatic charges on the hair passing over the edge tocollect foreign particles from the hair.

2. A comb assembly comprising, in combination, an elongated receptacleportion having a pair of outwardly extending wings formed integral withopposite edges of the receptacle portion, an elongated eelctricallyconductive metallic bar fixed to each of said wings, a comb having aplurality of teeth fixed in the receptacle portion and having the teethsubstantially transverse to the bars, and a dielectric block positionedbetween each of the metal bars and the comb, each of said blocks havingan elongated edge substantially transverse to the teeth of the comb toprovide an engaging edge for contacting hair as the comb passes throughthe hair to collect foreign particles from the hair.

3. A comb assembly comprising, in combination, an elongated moldedphenol formaldehyde resin base, said base having a receptacle portionand a handle formed integral therewith, a pair of Wings formed integralwith the receptacle portion and being positioned on opposite sides ofthe receptacle portion, a hard rubber comb having a plurality of teethfixed in said receptacle portion with the teeth being substantiallytransverse to the wings of said receptacle portion, each of the teeth ofsaid comb having a reduced portion adjacent to its outermost end forretaining an electrostatic charge on said comb, an elongatedelectrically conductive metal bar mounted on each of said wings in aposition substantially transverse to the teeth and a methyl methacrylateresin block positioned between each of said bars and the comb, eachblock having an embrasure-like surface adjacent to the comb to provide ahair engaging edge spaced from the comb and the respective metal bar forcontacting hair passing through the comb and engaging the metal bar tocollect foreign particles from the hair onto the block and the comb.

4. A comb assembly comprising, in combination, a base composed ofelectric insulator material having a recepticle portion, a comb fixed inthe receptacle portion of the base, said comb having a plurality ofteeth, an elongated electrically conductive bar mounted on said base onone side of the comb and being positioned substantially transverse tothe teeth of said comb, and a nonabsorbent dielectric block positionedbetween said bar and the comb, the block having an elongaed edgesubstantially parallel to the bar spaced from the comb and the bar toprovide a hair engaging edge for the block for generating electrostaticcharges on the hair passing over the edge to collect foreign particlesfrom the hair.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 590,971 1/1947 Great Britain.

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

G. E. MCNEILL, Assistant Examiner.

